2. Les parties du corps
Parts of the body
In this section, pupils learn the names for different parts of the body, and in the process enjoy some great traditional action songs. Pupils who go to ballet classes will recognise French words which are used globally in dance.
Children design and describe their own “alien monsters”. They describe a person’s appearance using familiar adjectives plus some new ones.
You can use three well known, authentic French songs for lots of enjoyable physical activity to help make the new words memorable.
Again we suggest you plan a series of lessons with this chapter, each session focussing on one main objective.
Films to see
Part A: “Head, shoulders...” song
A1 Song - ‘Tête, épaules et genoux, pieds’ Parts of the body - new words
Part B: Talking about body parts
B1 Ballet class - more new words
B2 Song - ‘Savez-vous planter les choux?’
B3 Playing ‘Twister’ - left /right, hand/foot
B4 Magic trick - indicating body parts
B5 ‘Jacques a dit’ - playing the game
Part C: Describing people and monsters
C1 Describing people (hair and eyes)
C2 Describing monsters
C3 Jokes 1 and 2
C4 Song - ‘Jean Petit qui danse’
Find transcripts online
Part A: “Head, shoulders...” song
Planning your lessons
Part A makes full use of the familiar action song to introduce French words for parts of the body.
Activities
Warm up
Anticipation: Present the class with three new words they are about to learn; how would a French person pronounce them?
l’épaule, le genou, le pied
Remind them of some French words they know already that may be helpful: (see “key sounds” later in part A)
l’épaule - aujourd’hui, au revoir, chaud, jaune
le genou - plage, boulangerie
le genou - où, tout
le pied - bien, chien, combien, viande
Film A1: French children sing with actions: “les épaules” Make sure children have opportunities to sing the song, with space to do the actions which will help them remember the words.
le pied - chaud, grand (silent letters)
Watch film A1 ‘Head. shoulders song’
❑ Watch the film A1, “Head,shoulders song” which introduces new words using the song
“Tête, épaules et genoux, pieds”.
3.2 Les parties du corps 2.1
SONG 1: ‘Tête, épaules, et
Tête, épaules et genoux, pieds; genoux, pieds.
Tête, épaules et genoux, pieds; genoux, pieds.
Les yeux, les oreilles, la bouche et puis le nez.
Tête, épaules et genoux, pieds.
Get used to the sounds
❑ Echoing: Show the first A1: ‘Parts of the body’ section on the e-flashcards, (or make enlarged copies of the pictures on the activity sheets).
A1: NEW WORDS
Parts of the Body (song)
le corps la tête
l’épaule(f) / les épaules le genou / les genoux le pied / les pieds
l’oeil (m) / les yeux
l’oreille (f)/les oreilles la bouche le nez
- body
- head
- shoulder(s)
- knee(s)
- foot / feet
- eye(s)
- ear(s)
- mouth
- nose
KEY SOUNDS
Listen and enjoy copying these typical sounds: where have you heard them before?
as in... épaule, heard before in aujourd’hui, chaud
Show each picture, initially with sound on and text off, and showing the singular words. Pupils echo the words , paying special attention to the “key sounds”.
Repeat this several times until children are familiar with saying the singular words. Then show the plural of each, as heard in the song lyrics - ask children what differences they can HEAR (note silent letters -see “key sounds”).
Respond with understanding
❑ Play “True or false?” 1
Show the e-flashcards with sound and text off, or indicate parts of your body.
When ‘nose’ shows, you say “C’est le nez?”* or the wrong thing, e.g. “C’est la bouche?”. With plurals “ C’est ... (le nez)?” changes to “Ce sont...”, e.g. “Ce sont (les genoux)?”
(*NOTE: French people usually refer to parts of their bodies impersonally, so say “le nez”, not “mon nez” - see “How French works 1”)
Children respond, “Oui, c’est le nez” if it is. If it isn’t, pupils just say “Non”.
as in... genou, bouche heard before in boules, tous, où est [as in the English: to eat ]
as in... bouche
heard before in chat, gauche, chapeau
as in oeil, yeux, oreille, pied [as in the English: yacht ] heard before in bien, chien, juillet
as in... yeux heard before in euro, neuf, bleu
as in... genou heard before in jaune, bonjour
as in...épaule, les (genoux), pied
heard before in santé, école, des
as in...genoux, yeux, corps, nez seen before in salut, habite
Early Start French 3 2.2
here to
between
ingular and PLural 1 NEW NEW
Click
change
S
genoux, pieds’
❑ Echoing: Indicate a part of your own body and say the word in French, e.g. “le pied”. Pupils echo the words and point to that part of their own bodies.
As children grow familiar with the words, distinguish carefully between singular and plural, e.g. first touch one shoulder and say “l’épaule”, then touch both shoulders and say “les épaules”.
Make this distinction when you play “Jacques a dit...” and other games.
❑ Play “True or false?” 2 (game)
Indicate the parts of the body again, but this time pupils only echo your phrase when it matches - otherwise they remain silent.
❑ Give each pupil one of the pictures. You call out a part of the body; all the pupils with that card hold it up for everyone to see.
❑ Play “ the Body Game”
Ask the children to stand up. When you call out a part of the body, they have to point to it or wave it in the air.
n Sing the song again. Ask how it differs from the familiar English version?
(A: ‘pieds’ (feet) instead of ‘toes’).
❑ Chanting game: This is a version of ‘Simon Says’ (‘Jacques a dit’* in French). The class stands up. You call out a part of the body, If you say, e.g. “Jacques a dit... la bouche”, the class all chant “la bouche” together; if you just say “la bouche”, those children who say anything sit down and are out.
Last one left standing wins!
* Note: There is a film of French children playing “Jacques a dit” to be viewed later when pupils know more words for parts of the body.
HOW FRENCH WORKS: Talking about body parts
French people generally talk about their bodies in an impersonal way.
In English,people often refer to their body parts with a possessive adjective (my/ your/ his/ her/ our... nose), but French people generally use the impersonal ‘the’:
“C’est le nez”
(That is the nose)
It sounds almost as if that body part didn’t belong to them!
Children will also hear this in Song 2:
“On les plante avec le doigt”
(We plant them with the finger)
Spot silent letters
❑ Echoing: Show the first “body parts” section on the e-flashcards, this time with both sound and text on. Pupils echo the words.
Talk about the silent letters at the end of many words such as, le corps, les épaules, les genoux, le pied, les yeux, les oreilles, le nez.
n What other words can they think of which have silent letters at the end?
(e.g. salut, juillet, le chocolat, les frites).
n Some words also have silent letters at the beginning (e.g. huit, l’heure, le hamster).
CROSS-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES
❑ Design Technology -card puppet: Children can make cut-out card 2D puppets, with moveable limbs joined to the body shape with metal fasteners so they can swivel. When you call out a body-part in French, they wave the appropriate bit of the puppet. Parts can be labelled in French.
Add to the puppet as more body parts are learnt in parts B and C.
3.2 Les parties du corps 2.3
1
Je m’appelle ............................... This page may be copied for classroom use © 2023 Early Start Languages
Le corps 1
Part B: Talking about body parts
KEY SOUNDS
Listen and enjoy copying these typical sounds: where have you heard them before?
as in danse, jambe heard before in grand(e), France, vent
as in... main heard before in lapin, moins
as in... jambe, genou heard before in jaune, bonjour
as in... doigt heard before in oui, oiseau,droit,voici [as in the English: wet ]
as in... savez, planter, chez, touchez heard before in santé, épaule, ajouter
as in... doigt, fais, bras, choux, nous seen before in salut, habite
(Listen to the native speakers - try to copy their typically French sounds.)
Planning your lessons
In this section, pupils hear the names for more parts of the body, and also hear normal French usage in talking “impersonally” about body parts, including when giving instructions. The contexts include a ballet class, playing ‘Twister’ and ‘Simon says’, and a traditional song.
Activities
Warm up
Ballet brainstorm: It is likely that there will be a number of children in the class who attend ballet lessons. These pupils will be used to hearing French words and phrases on a regular basis, although they may not be fully aware of this. Ask the class to think of as many ballet terms as they can. They may need some prompting and we have provided a list of well-known ballet terms as part of the ballet “Talking Point” at the end of this section. Ask pupils to demonstrate some of the movements if practical.
Part B: NEW WORDS
Dance/ ballet class
la danse
je fais de la danse
- dance/dancing
- I do dancing (I go to dance classes)
More parts of the body
le bras / les bras
la main / les mains
le doigt / les doigts
la jambe / les jambes
- arm(s)
- hand(s)
- finger(s)
- leg(s)
Teacher instructions
touchez le nez! touch your nose!
❑ Film B1 starts with a cartoon ballet dancer, who illustrates more new words for parts of the body. We see Clara and Romane’s ballet class, and hear their teacher’s instructions - which
3.2 Les parties du corps 2.5
Film B1: Ballet class - “les jambes”.
Watch film B1: Ballet class
(of course) mention parts of the body. The class is at the Conservatoire Municipal de Danse in Bruay-La-Buissière , near Béthune You will see more of Béthune and its interesting history in Ch.3.9 and 3.10.
“Oui” . If you show your leg but ask, “C’est le bras?”, pupils respond by saying “Non”. As before, follow a deliberate mistake with a reminder of the correct word. Remember to use “Ce sont...” for plurals;“Ce sont les doigts”, compare “C’est la main .
❑ Play “True or false?” 2 (game)
Indicate the parts of the body again, but this time pupils only echo your phrase when it matches - otherwise they remain silent.
❑ Play “Touchez l’image!” (team game)
Divide the class into two teams. One child from each team faces the board; each in front of a picture of ‘parts of the body’.
Film B1: Ballet class - “les genoux”. Pupils who go to ballet classes will recognise many of the terms used by the ballet teacher.
Get used to the sounds
❑ Echoing: Show the “Ballet and Twister” section on the e-flashcards, (or make enlarged copies of the pictures on the activity sheets)
You call out a body part, e.g. “la bouche”; the first child to touch the mouth wins a point for their team.
Watch film B2: Song
Show each picture, start with sound ON and text OFF. Pupils echo the words , paying special attention to the “key sounds”. When children are familiar with the singular words, compare with the plural - ask children what differences they can HEAR (note silent letters).
❑ Echoing: Indicate a part of your own body and say the word in French, e.g. “le bras”. Pupils echo the words and point to that part of their own bodies.
Respond with understanding
❑ Play “True or false?” 1
Indicate parts of your body again. You point to your hand, say “C’est la main?” Children respond, “Oui, c’est la main” or just,
❑ SONG: ‘Savez-vous planter les choux?’: Join in as the children sing ‘Savez vous planter les choux?’ - another traditional action song. The class should be standing up, with room to make all the actions as they sing along with the French children. Copying the actions they see in film B2 helps make the words memorable. As well as being a fun way to remember vocabulary, the song is also a guide to normal French usagesee “How French works 1”.
n Once children are familiar with the song, they can adapt it by suggesting other “fashionable” ways to plant cabbages!
When children choose the next body part, ask them whether it is ‘le’, ’la’, ’l’ ’ or ‘les’
Early Start French 3 2.6
1
Click here to change between Singular and PLural
SONG: “Savez-vous planter les choux?”
Savez-vous planter les choux?
(Do you know how to plant cabbages?)
À la mode, à la mode. (the trendy way (x2) literally - fashionably/in fashion)
Savez-vous planter les choux, À la mode de chez nous? (the way we do it? literally- In the fashion at our house/home)
On les plante avec le pied (We plant them with our foot)
À la mode, à la mode.
On les plante avec le pied
À la mode de chez nous!
The song continues: each verse suggests another body part as the “fashionable” way to plant cabbages!
NOTE: listen to how “mode” is pronounced in the song. The final ‘e’ is usually silent, but in songs it is often sounded to improve the rhythm.
Watch film B3: Playing Twister
❑ Playing Twister
Clara and her friends are playing ‘Twister’ in the garden at Clara’s house.
The game needs a mat with rows of coloured spots; you could borrow someone’s English version, or improvise with coloured mats.
Film B3: “Aujourd’hui on va jouer au Twister.” CROSS-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES
❑ PE -Twister:
Play the familiar party game in French, involving parts of the body with left and right (la main gauche, la main droite; le pied gauche, le pied droit), and colours (rouge, bleu, vert, jaune).
Play with 2, 3 or 4 children per mat. They take turns to spin the spinner that picks a colour and a right or left hand/foot; call out both in French.
The child must place the correct hand/foot on a spot of the right colour. If they lose their balance, they leave the game, which continues until only one child is left.
Film B3: the Twister spinner-“Le pied droit, bleu...”
❑ Art and Design (craft):
Pupils can design and make gruesome body parts at Hallowe’en. (You can also find them in the shops). They could make eyeballs, fingers, noses - even a skeleton!
They could use these to make 3D ghoulish pictures or mobiles.
Pupils can label the gruesome body parts in French.
Later, when working on part C of this chapter, they will be able to describe their Hallowe’en people in more detail.
Watch film B4: Magic trick
❑ Magic trick: Clara’s dad is a magician (‘le magicien’); he’s going to cut Clara in half! He points out parts of Clara that can be seen poking through the box.
3.2 Les parties du corps 2.7
Film B4: “Le papa de Clara est magicien”.
❑ Ask children to copy the actions with Clara as she demonstrates that she is still alive inside the box.
It’s a magic trick, ‘un numéro de magie’!
Watch film B5: ‘Simon says’
❑ Playing ‘Jacques a dit’.
Madame Antit’s class are in the playground.
Talking Point 1
EVERYDAY LIFE IN FRANCE
Ballet in France
The language of ballet is French. The terminology was originally developed in the royal court of King Louis XIV during the 17th century (see Ch.3.11 “Cendrillon” for more about Louis XIV) . Today, wherever in the world a ballet class is given, the names of the steps are given to students in their original French. Ballet originated in Italy during the Renaissance, but became very popular as spectacular court entertainments in France. The word ‘ballet’ is a French version of the Italian word ‘ballo’ meaning ‘ball’.
In the early ballets, there were no professional dancers; the dances were performed by courtiers and members of the royal families. Initially, there were no ballerinas - only men danced.
Film B5: Mme. Antit’s class play “Jacques a dit...”
Mme Antit: “Et nous allons jouer à ‘Jacques a dit’.
Jacques a dit, mains sur la tête.
Jacques a dit, mains sur les genoux. Sur les épaules.
Jacques a dit, touchez le nez.
Jacques a dit, mains sur la tête. Mains en l’air.”
❑ Play ‘Simon Says’ (‘Jacques a dit’)
The class stands up.
If you say, e.g. “Jacques a dit touchez... les pieds”, each now touches their feet.
If you just say “Touchez les pieds”, those children who do so sit down and are out.
Last one left standing wins!
Louis XIV dressed as the Sun King to perform in the ‘Ballet de la nuit’ in 1653.
Louis XIV enjoyed performing in ballets himself, and in 1653 played the role of ‘the Sun King’ in the ‘Ballet de la nuit’ at his new Palace of Versailles (see Ch.3.11).
In 1661, Louis established the Académie Royale de Musique et de Danse, the world’s first ballet school. Gradually, professional dancers began to replace courtiers, and in 1681 the first ballerinas performed.
Early Start French 3 2.8
The Académie also formalised the steps of ballet - this is why today ballet dancers all over the world use French terms to describe their dances.
Useful words and phrases for your “ballet brainstorm”:
le corps de ballet - “the body of the ballet”: the group of dancers who are not soloists.
pirouette - “spin”: a controlled turn on one leg.
arabesque - “Arabic”: the dancer stretches one leg straight out at the back. The upper body is straight and lifted.
en pointe - “on the tips of the toes”- literally - in blocked “point” shoes.
plié - “bent”: knee bend executed with the legs turned out from the hips.
demi plié - half bend the knees.
battement - “beat”: the leg is extended and then returned.
grand battement - “big beat”: a leg lift where the leg is raised as high as possible.
petit battement - “little beat”: the leg beats front to back really quickly.
jeté - “thrown”: a jump from one foot to the other “throwing” one leg out. (Also grand jeté and petit jeté)
tendu - “stretched”: the leg points outwards right through to the toes.
relevé - “raised”: the heels are raised off the floor.
un pas - “a step” e.g. pas de chat (“step of the cat”) - a basic jump that most children learn early on.
le port de bras - literally, “carriage of arms”: every ballet class will have a section where graceful arm movements are practised. These are just a few of the many ballet terms your pupils may know.
The five ballet positions: In ballet there are five key positions of the feet and arms.
Most KS2 children who attend ballet classes should be able to demonstrate these positions as they are a central part of a traditional ballet class. You can use this as a good way to practise ordinal numbers with the rest of the class. Ask the dancers to demonstrate as you call out the positions in sequence. Ask the ‘non dancers’ to echo. If your dancers are confident, you could ask different children from the class to call out a name and position for that person to take. e.g.
“Olivia, deuxìeme position, s’il te plaît”; “Sam et Daisy, quatrième position, s’il vous plaît”.
Phrases usually done in English:
(la) première position - first position:
- heels and knees are together with the feet forming a straight-line. The arms are held in front of the body.
deuxième position - second position:
- the legs are still turned out, but now they are apart. The arms are outstretched.
troisième position - third position:
- one foot is now in front of the other. One arm is placed above the head and the other held to the side.
quatrième position - fourth position:
- the feet are now about 40 cm apart and the outstretched arm moves to the front of the body.
cinquième position - fifth position:
- the legs squeeze together and the heel of the front foot touches the big toe of the back foot. Both arms are curved above the head. This is known in France as “la couronne” (crown).
3.2 Les parties du corps 2.9
m’appelle ................................. This page may be copied for classroom use © 2023 Early Start Languages
Le corps 2 Je
Part C: Describing people and monsters
Planning your lessons
In this section, pupils learn more ways to describe a person, with hair- and eye-colour and style. This builds on previous work from (Early Start French 2, Ch.2.15) describing the clothes someone is wearing - re-visiting what they know about using adjectives in French, such as colours.
They also describe “monsters” with varied body parts.
Activities
Warm up
❑ First briefly remind children of the French colours they know; point to coloured clothes and ask, “C’est quelle couleur?”
Anticipation: Present the class with words they are about to use: cheveux, grand, petit. Remind them of French words they know that may be helpful (see “Key sounds”):
les cheveu x - chat, yeux, salut
peti t - voici, salut
gran d - France or vent, salut
Watch film C1: describing people
❑ Show film C1, which introduces the word for ‘hair’, and shows describing people by their hair- and eye-colour, and hairstyle.
Describing someone’s appearance: Romane shows the different features of her face: “Les yeux, les oreilles, le nez et la bouche.”
Part C: NEW WORDS
les cheveux (m. plural) - hair *
*NOTE:French people talk about “the hairs”
C1: Describing people
J’ai les cheveux... (blonds / bruns*)
My hair is... (blond / brown)
*NOTE: brown hair is ‘bruns’ not ‘marrons’
J’ai les cheveux... (longs / courts)
My hair is... long / short)
J’ai les yeux... (bleus / marrons)
My eyes are... (blue / brown)
Il a les yeux... (bleus / marrons)
His eyes are... (blue / brown)
Elle a les cheveux... (longs / courts)
She has long / short hair
Je suis... (grand / petit )
I am... (tall / short)
Je suis... (grande / petite )
I am... (tall / short)
C2: Describing “monsters”
le monstre - monster
le ventre - tummy
Ce monstre est... (grand / petit )
This monster is... (big / small)
Ce monstre a... (trois yeux )
This monster has... (three eyes)
Get used to the sounds
❑ Echoing: Show the ‘Describing people’ e-flashcards which have C1 at the bottom of the screen. Show “first person” descriptions first, i.e. where the person describes themselves, using “J’ai...”
Film C1: “J’ai les yeux bleus”.
We point out features of cartoon children:
- their eyes (brown-“marron” or blue);
- their hair colour (brown-“brun”, or blond), and style (long, short).
Click to switch between ‘I’, ‘He’ and ‘She’
3.2 Les parties du corps 2.11
BOY GIRL
HOW FRENCH WORKS 2: French adjectives 2
French people talk about their bodies impersonally: they say “I have (the) long hair”, rather than “My hair is long”:
“J’ai les cheveux longs...” (I have long hair...)
“...et les yeux marrons...” (...and brown eyes.)
Here ‘eyes’ and ‘hair’ are both masculine and plural nouns, so the adjectives are masculine and plural too.
Children know about describing clothes from Pack 2, Ch.2.15, e.g.
“Je porte une grande veste bleue...”
(I’m wearing a big blue jacket...)
Most French adjectives come after the noun (not before as in English) but there are a few very common exceptions, like grand/petit. You can also describe people like this:
“Je suis grand”, “Elle est grande”
(I am tall ) (She is tall )
Show each picture, initially with sound on and text off. Pupils echo the words , paying special attention to the “key sounds”.
❑ Echoing, third person: Click on the icon indicated to change to describing the same people with “il / elle a...” or “il / elle est...”.
Children respond, “Oui, elle a les cheveux blonds” or just, “Oui” - but if you wrongly describe the ‘model’, pupils simply say“Non”.
As before, follow such a deliberate mistake with a reminder of the correct phrase.
❑ Play “True or false?” 2 (game)
Indicate a child’s hair or eyes again, but this time the class only echo your phrase when it matches - otherwise they remain silent.
Working in pairs
❑ Play “Describe your classmate”
Give each child a piece of folded paper with the name of a classmate hidden inside.
KEY SOUNDS
Listen and enjoy copying these typical sounds: where have you heard them before?
as in grand(e), jambe heard before in France, vent
as in... monstre, blond, long heard before in marron, pantalon
as in... cheveux
heard before in chat, gauche, bouche
as in... je, j’ai, jambe, genou heard before in jaune, bonjour
Click to switch between ‘I’, ‘He’ and ‘She’
Pupils echo and get used to “il” and “elle”.
Respond with understanding 1
❑ Describe each other
Ask a series of children to face the class, selecting ones who won’t be embarassed being a (nonspeaking) ‘model’.
For each one, you point to his/her hair, say “il/elle a les cheveux blonds?”. Use a rising tone to indicate you’re asking a question.
as in... cheveux heard before in yeux, euro, neuf, bleu
as in... genou, bouche, court(e) heard before in boules, tous, où est [as in the English: to eat ]
as in...il, petit
heard before in voici
as in... blond, court, grand, cheveux, petit
seen before in salut, habite
Early Start French 3 2.12
Each child describes their named-person’s hair and eye colour, e.g. “Il a les cheveux blonds..” Their partner then has to guess who in the class has been described. Then the two swap roles.
❑ Play “Describe yourself” Working in pairs or small groups, children tell each other their hair and eye colour.
Watch film C2: describing monsters
❑ Show film C2, in which various rather unusual monsters are described. First it describes boys and girls as tall (‘grand(e)’) or short (‘petit(e)’); then, two monsters, one big and one small.
Repeat with ears, eyes and arms.
❑ Echoing: Children colour-in pictures of the monsters from the activity sheet, with their own choice of colours.
You show a few pictures to the class. Say something about each in French, emphasizing the colour, e.g. “Ce monstre (m) est vert (m)” or “Ce monstre a une tête (f) verte (f)” . NOTE the adjective agrees with the noun it describes. Pupils echo the words
n Still using the coloured-in pictures, now ask some children to describe their picture in French to the class.
❑ Play “Design a Monster”
Film C2: “Ce monstre est grand”. Next, monsters are described by colour and the number of body parts:
- one has three eyes, a red nose, red ears and arms and brown legs;
- the next monster has a purple head, blue legs and yellow hair;
- the last monster has three legs. It is green. Its ears are pink and its arms are blue.
More get used to the sounds
❑ Echoing: Show the ‘Describing monsters’ e-flashcards - initially with sound on and text off. Pupils echo each phrase they hear.
Respond with understanding 2
❑ Describing ‘how many...’: Show the ‘Monsters’ e-flashcards - this time with sound and text OFF. Ask the class to try adapting the phrase “Ce monstre a trois yeux” for each picture, to say together how many eyes that monster has. Now count legs: you say e.g., “Ce monstre a deux jambes”. For each monster, ask the class to chant how many legs it has.
This activity can link with your class Art and craft work. Ask them to design their own monster that they will then describe in French (see “Extra words and phrases”).
When they’ve finished, ask questions about children’s designs to encourage them to develop their own descriptions.
❑ Play “picture dictation”
In this activity, ask children to describe a monster to you in French, which you then try to draw on the whiteboard.
You follow just what children tell you , e.g. “Le monstre a trois jambes.” Some children may need prompting, e.g. “Il a un ventre...?”
❑ Play “Guess the celebrity”
Pin magazine pictures of people children might knowaround the room, with the person’s name under each photo. One child picks a photo, and describes the person to the rest of the class, e.g. “Il a les cheveux blonds.”
The rest of the class try to guess who is being described. The first to guess correctly picks the next photo.
n Extend this activity by encouraging children also to describe what the celebrity is wearing.
3.2 Les parties du corps 2.13
❑ Play “Picture Consequences”
Each pupil folds a sheet of paper in three, anddraws and colours the head(s) and face of a monster on the top part; folds it over to hide the head(s), and passes it to their neighbour.
❑ Play “Jumbled Words”
Display jumbled text cards on the board. You say the sentence with a colour, e.g. “J’ai les cheveux bruns.” Ask a child to re-arrange the text cards to make this sentence.
Everyone now draws and colours a body, folds the paper again, and passes it on. The next go adds a pair of legs with feet. The sheets are then passed on to the next pupil, who opens it up to see the character that has been drawn by three different people.
Pupils take it in turns to show the class their monster and describe it, e.g. “Ce monstre a trois jambes et quatre yeux. Il a une tête bleue et un ventre rouge.” Some pictures may of course be quite silly, but that all adds to the fun!
HOW FRENCH WORKS 3: He and his...; she and her...
“J’ai les cheveux longs...”
(I have long hair...)
Children know from Pack 2 how to describe other people as well as themselves, e.g.
“Elle porte une veste rouge...”
(She is wearing a red jacket...)
“Il porte une veste violette...”
(He is wearing a purple jacket...)
Note that the adjective agrees with the noun it describes, e.g. with ‘les cheveux’:
“Il a les cheveux longs...”
(He has long hair...)
“Elle a les cheveux longs...”
(She has long hair...) ...or if it describes the whole person:
“Il est grand et vert...”
“Elle est petite et verte ...”
Give further examples, varying the colour, and the parts of the body. Gradually add more colours, then other adjectives, and leave them to make any sentence with the words. You could also give children individual cards, and ask them to make a ‘Human Sentence’ by sorting themselves into a row that makes a correctly-ordered sentence.
CROSS-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES
❑ Survey - ICT: Pupils can find out from each other what are their hair and eye colour.
Children can record the results of their survey on a spreadsheet and display it as a graph. You could ask a French school to do a similar survey, swap results, and talk about and compare the two sets of results.
❑ Art and design/ ICT: Portraits
Children draw portraits using each other as subjects. They describe their subject’s hair and eyes to the class in French, also clothes, size and any other features they can manage.
Early Start French 3 2.14
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